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Hi there, nice to have you visiting! I'm Heidi and this is the blog for Heidi Bears. Here is where I post all the happenings in my work and daily life. Here and there you'll find info on things that have caught my attention as well as the odd tutorial. I hope you enjoy your visits. I love to have feedback, so leave me a comment!

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Casting on for Two Gloves or Socks on One Circular Needle: Tutorial

Hello Blogland :)

Today our knitting group met for our weekly "fix", of knitting, chatting, laughing and eating delicious things... We had a new lady join us today...welcome Nichole, and your gorgeous baby, Jane! We meet in a lovely little shop called Taryn Jean, where you can find the most beautiful items from antiques to modern homeware. It is run by Taryn Jean and her mom Frances...wonderful people, who always make us feel welcome :)

This week I will post a Tutorial on how to knit two fingerless gloves at the same time on one circular needle. I love this technique because you avoid the ever distressing second sock/glove syndrome. As an added bonus, you have the same tension throughout, so each glove/sock looks the same... why do I keep referring to the "sock"as well? Well, because this technique is exactly the same one you would use for knitting two socks at the same time on one circular needle...that's why ;)

First though...you need to know how to cast on...please note: I have not invented this technique...just "tutorialised" it in my own way :)

Tutorial for Casting on for Two Gloves on One Circular Needle

Firstly: please refer back to my tutorial on how to do Magic Loop knitting...you need to be familiar with how to turn your work around and which needle to use to knit with. If something in this post doesn't make sense, please feel free to send me a mail and I will try to clarify :)Ok, ready to go? Use a circular needle that is at least 120cm long, and in the size that is required for your gloves. If you have a pattern that you specifically want to knit, adapt your number of required stitches accordingly.The basic idea is that you will use two balls of yarn (or if you prefer, the two ends of one ball of yarn), to knit two gloves. If you have never knitted gloves before, you might find it easier to have two separate balls of yarn to start with...it's easier to keep your working yarns untangled. So....one working yarn will be used to knit one glove and the second working yarn will knit the second glove...easy! Remember to keep them separate, or you will end up with a weird looking Dr Seuss-kinda Thneed thingamagigy...You are casting on the stitches for the cuff...ie you are knitting cuff up to fingers. So if your pattern and gauge calls for 64 stitches to be cast on, you will need to cast on 32 stitches onto your marked needle, for glove 1, using the working yarn from ball 1. Don't worry, it will all make sense in a bit...

Now use the working yarn from the second ball of yarn. You are going to cast on the full number of required stitches as per your pattern, for my example of 64 stitches per glove, you cast on 64 stitches onto the SAME needle as in the previous pic. Notice that the working yarns are both hanging off the right hand side of your needle.

Slide your "Glove 1" stitches across the cable, to the other needle (as seen above, marked by the butterfly). You will see that the working yarn from ball 1, is now on the left hand side of the stitches (fear not, this is right!).

Slide the stitches for Glove 2 (marked by the heart) towards the middle of your cable, and gently separate them into two halves, pull the cable through. You have effectively divided your "Glove 2" stitches into two halves, as seen above.

You need to cast on the second half of the required stitches for "Glove 1", again onto the same needle you used to cast on throughout. I have found that using a third, straight knitting needle is the easiest way to do this. Take your separate knitting needle, and place it through the last stitch you made for "Glove 1" (this is the last stitch that the working yarn of ball 1 has created). Yarn around needle (just as if you were doing a cast on stitch), pull through, and slip it from the straight needle onto the circular needle you have used for all the casting on. It will be a bit loose and floppy, but pull the working yarn a bit and tighten it. You now have ONE stitch on the other needle. Continue to cast on, until you have 32 stitches on this needle. See the pic above.The stitches for Glove 1 are complete...half on one needle, half on the other...exactly as for Glove 2.

Now start knitting exactly as you would for Magic Loop knitting.

Remember to use only the working yarn attached to each glove ie DON'T use Ball 1's working yarn to knit Glove 2 and vice versa.

The order in which your knitting round 1 will proceed:

Knit half the stitches for Glove 1, using the working yarn from ball 1

Drop this working yarn for Glove 1

Pick up the working yarn from ball 2, and knit the first half of Glove 2

Turn your work around as in normal Magic Loop Knitting

Pick up working yarn 2, and continue knitting the second half of Glove 2's stitches

Drop working yarn 2

Pick up working yarn 1, and knit the second half of Glove 1's stitches

4 comments:

Hello, Thank you for the mention. I had a really nice time and have told everyone about your group (no worries, none are knitters). I would love to take claim to the lovely name Jane, but my little Heffalump is Kate :) Thank you for all being so patient with her crying. Nicole

Oh, Heidi - we have started to put the house back together. I have been doing nothing but carrying thousands of books from one end of it to the other, having to make judgements about what to keep and what not - which is a bit like moving, wouldn't you say? And the dust - oh, yuck. I have been vacuuming ceiling fans and book shelves and chair rails and tables and all manner of things. So I haven't been able to read. But this morning, as I swallowed my breakfast whole, preparing my Sunday School class for the 13 year olds and packing for a three day trip to New Mexico to see my daughter - and, I hope, getting dressed for church before I actually leave to go to it - I have read this tutorial. Very clear. Very intriguing. So many things to try, and so much life to wade through to reach the try-able moments. I will be back Wednesday. A chat with you soon would be fun - and an oasis, I think.

I know that this post is older, but I wanted to pop in and say that it was REALLY really helpful for me to learn magic loop + two at a time socks! It was a little tricky at first because my socks are toe-up, but I have the hang of it now and it's all because of your awesome tutorial. Thank you for writing this!

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Hi, I'm Heidi, the creative mind behind Heidi Bears, the blog! I am a happily married mom of two beautiful daughters, and live in an old house with wooden floors, which needs more attention than a newborn...but we love her anyway!
I love creative activities and have probably tried every kind of craft at one time or another :) I feel blessed and thankful for the diversity in my life...